Business

5 Reasons Why Any Successful Shopify Dropshipping Business Needs The Right CRM

Published

6 years ago

April 27, 2020

Here at SaleSource we often get questions like: “Is dropshipping legal?”, “Is dropshipping dead?”, etc. It’s important to get it out of the way first – the short answer is no, dropshipping is not dead and yes, dropshipping is absolutely legal.

Next off, what is a CRM? Well, CRM stands for customer relationship management. Essentially what that means is your CRM is your customer database and your leads database, and also your business management software. So it’s really important. If you want to effectively manage your business and scale your business, you’re going to need a great tool to do so and that’s a CRM. And that’s why it’s so important to have the right CRM. So if you’re not using a CRM, if you’re using yellow pads or spreadsheets, it’s a no-brainer, you need a CRM. And if you’re using a CRM that you don’t love, maybe this article will help you identify the right CRM to use to truly grow your business.

So there’s really six points that I want to touch on to help you determine if you’re using the right CRM for your business or which CRM you might use that would be the right CRM for your small business, so let’s go through those one by one.

1. Lead management

So the first thing to look for within a CRM is the appropriate lead management tools you have for your sales team. For any small business, such as shopify stores, to grow – they really need a good convertible process with regards to taking a lead and turning it into an account, that’s your sales process. And all of the leads that you have are your lead pipeline. And so you need a sales team to be most effective to grow your business in terms of taking those leads and turning them into accounts. Well, your CRM really helps for that because CRM will allow you to do things like when somebody fills out the lead form on your website or on social media, let’s say, like on an ad, it will automatically build that contact within your CRM, automatically assign it to your sales rep, and also give them the process that they should follow in order to close that deal. Whether it’s an initial call and then seven days later an email follow-up, and then another call; you can predetermine what that needs to be and you can build that template right into your CRM so that your sales team can just follow that and close more deals. So a CRM is really, really valuable because it allows you to optimize that process so that all of your sales people are following the same process with the same piece of software system so that you can have consistent performance over time.

2. Account management or customer management

Customer management is really important because you don’t want to have a bad customer experience and you want those customers to keep coming back. So a CRM allows you to do that because it does such things as when a lead becomes a customer, it unlocks additional fields of information that can be populated by your account managers and your customer service reps, et cetera, so that you have all the information you need for all of your customers. It can also do things like send email communications automatically. So as that customer moves through their life cycle, at key points when they need certain information sent to them, instead of counting on somebody to do this manually all the time, your CRM can serve as an automated worker for you, basically, and send this messaging out in an automated way to your customer base, which is really, really powerful if you create these journeys in the right way. The CRM also has all the notes and history logs that you might have had on a client, and it pulls in all of the data and all the pieces so that you can see the full story of each customer within a CRM. So if you don’t have that right now, definitely take a look out there and see if there’s a CRM software that fits what you’re looking for with regards to customer management.

3. Task management tools

So task management, really important. Basically everybody in your company has tasks that they’re trying to accomplish every single day. And so a CRM is a great way to have that basically streamlined in a more automated way to where as certain tasks are completed, other tasks are unlocked. So it really helps you to identify the things that need to get done. I found over the years that if somebody doesn’t really have their day planned out, they’re not very efficient because they’re always spending a lot of time thinking about what to do next, instead of just having tasks organized for them so they can come in and just start knocking them out one after the next. So a CRM allows you to think proactively because you can create these tasks for different leads you’re talking to, for different customers you’re working with, you can schedule them out so that you’re always building out your future plans of what needs to get done proactively so that when that day comes into today, I have the things that I need to do right in front of me and it keeps a log of all of this for me automatically within the CRM so that I always have a history of what’s been done.

4. Project management tools

The fourth thing to look for within a CRM is the appropriate project management tools that you might need. So you always have these little side projects going on, right? Whether it’s something you’re personally doing, or something for a customer, it could be a project you’re doing for a customer, it could just be something you’re doing yourself because you just want to do some self-development or something like that. Within a CRM, you should be able to create a project with different stages within it and tasks that need to be accomplished within each of those stages. And then you can use those templates moving forward if you wanted to, maybe it’s a project that you typically do for customers over and over again, right. Maybe it’s like a kitchen remodel, you need to do these things whenever there’s a kitchen remodel, it’s like a checklist, it’s a no-brainer. So if that’s a service that you provide, every time you have a new customer that needs a kitchen remodel, you just add that project to it and then your team can start working on it. This is really effective because it allows you to streamline and make sure that you have all of the checklists or processes built out ahead of time for all of your projects. And then if you ever need to add a stage or add a step, when you do that, it immediately is added to all the other projects because it’s a template. And so it really helps your whole team make sure that nothing gets missed along the way.

5. Company calendar

Company calendars are really nice because it helps you just see what’s going on at the company level with regards to all the events, things coming up, different customers that you’re interacting with for the day, that kind of a thing. So we all have our personal calendar usually in our email whether it’s in Gmail or those things, and that’s really good. What I’m talking about here though is a company calendar. As a team, you want to be able to see what the rest of the team is doing, and so a CRM is nice because the calendar there shows you from a business perspective what’s going on for the day for not just you but you can toggle and you can say, hey, show me everything that, all the events happening today for my whole team. And that helps you identify what’s going on as an organization, especially if you’re a manager, so you can make sure that you’re effectively managing your team appropriately.

Business

Why Multi-Province Payroll Compliance Is the Hidden Challenge Canadian SMBs Face and How Folks Solves It

Published

23 hours ago

November 6, 2025

Matthew Wiles

Photo courtesy of: Folks

Byline: Shem Albert

Running payroll in Canada can feel like crossing a country stitched from many different fabrics. Each province weaves its own pattern of tax rules, leave policies, and benefit requirements, creating a landscape where a single misstep can ripple through every paycheck. For small and mid-sized businesses, the challenge often remains hidden until growth pushes hiring beyond provincial borders or brings remote workers into the fold. What seems like a routine back-office task quickly becomes a test of accuracy, timing, and local knowledge. This is the gap that Folks set out to close, offering a way for employers to navigate Canada’s regulatory patchwork without slowing their momentum.

Provincial Rules Add Complexity

Canada’s payroll environment varies sharply by province. Federal rules set the foundation, but provincial tax rates, deductions, statutory leave entitlements, and benefit premiums add layers of complexity that employers must monitor carefully. Small and mid-sized businesses with staff across provinces or remote employees face different tax tables, reporting deadlines, and leave calculations that directly affect pay accuracy and remittance schedules.

Folks built its payroll module to address these differences. The platform calculates the correct provincial tax rates and deductions for each employee, applying updates automatically so employers avoid misapplied withholdings or late filings. Multi-location tax management allows a company with workers in Ontario, Quebec, or several other provinces to process payroll without creating separate accounts for each jurisdiction. Bilingual functionality in English and French and secure Canadian data hosting support compliance while keeping employee records accessible across language and regional boundaries.

Unified Records Improve Accuracy

Payroll errors often stem from mismatched employee data. Changes in pay rates, banking details, or benefits eligibility may not align between HR and finance systems, creating incorrect deductions or delayed payments. Smaller teams juggling separate platforms spend valuable hours reconciling information instead of focusing on strategic work.

Folks resolves these issues by combining HR and payroll in one platform. Updates to wages, hours, or tax information entered on the HR side flow directly into payroll without re-entry. This single, verified record strengthens the accuracy of every payroll run and ensures employees receive the correct pay and deductions. By removing the need for repetitive administrative work, HR staff can redirect their time to tasks that support growth and employee engagement.

Automation Keeps Provinces in Step

Each province sets its own requirements for holiday pay, pay frequency, and statutory benefits, making manual calculations both time-consuming and error-prone. Businesses that expand or hire remote employees must keep pace with shifting provincial regulations or risk penalties and audit issues.

Folks address these demands with automation designed for Canada’s regulatory landscape. Pay statements, deduction calculations, and custom pay schedules follow the applicable provincial rules without extra configuration. The system’s automated updates mean that a company hiring staff in British Columbia or Quebec can meet local payroll standards without adding new layers of setup or monitoring. Employers gain the ability to expand into new regions while maintaining accurate, on-time pay.

Reporting Strengthens Compliance

Changing tax rates and reporting requirements require ongoing attention from HR and finance teams. Companies that rely on disconnected systems risk missing a provincial update or submitting incorrect remittances, which can lead to fines and interest charges.

Folks provides detailed reporting tools that compile payroll, deductions, and benefits information across all locations. Employers can generate clear remittance and deduction summaries, simplifying the process of meeting provincial filing requirements. For organizations that want additional guidance, Folks also offers a payroll management service that brings in-house specialists to assist with configuration, compliance, and regular updates. These reporting features help companies stay audit-ready and avoid costly compliance gaps.

Scalable Payroll for Expanding Businesses

Many small businesses begin in a single province, where local tax and payroll demands can be learned over time. Growth into new provinces or the decision to hire remote staff adds a level of complexity that manual processes cannot handle efficiently. Errors multiply, compliance risks rise, and payroll teams spend more time correcting mistakes than supporting expansion plans.

Folks provides payroll that scales with company growth. Provincial tax logic, automated deductions, bilingual support, and secure Canadian data storage are built directly into the platform. By maintaining an accurate employee record and applying province-specific rules automatically, the system allows Canadian SMBs to expand with fewer administrative surprises and more predictable payroll operations. Companies gain the stability of compliant payroll across provinces while controlling the time and costs that typically accompany multi-jurisdiction growth.